Yahoo to partner with ConsumerReview

The two companies will announce later this week that they are teaming to provide product reviews for the online portal's shopping section.

3 January 200212:43 am GMT

Yahoo plans to announce later this week that it has teamed with ConsumerReview.com to offer product reviews in its shopping area.

Through ConsumerReview, Yahoo currently offers opinions on golf equipment and outdoor gear such as sleeping bags and tents. Within the next two months, Yahoo will add ConsumerReview's content to its electronics and other shopping areas, ConsumerReview chief executive Max Mancini told CNET News.com today.

Shopping portals such as Yahoo have to appeal to a wide range of customers, from those who want the lowest price to those who want product information, said Gartner Group e-commerce analyst Adam Sarner.

"This is another step in getting all those questions answered online," Sarner said.

With the boom in e-commerce, many companies have attempted to cash in by serving as intermediaries between consumers and e-tailers, providing comparison shopping guides and product reviews. Yahoo's move to add ConsumerReview's content to its site comes two weeks after Deja.com relaunched its site, emphasizing its shopping guide.

"There's a huge demand from consumers for product information," Mancini said. "The bar has been raised on expectations."

Yahoo representatives declined to comment on the upcoming announcement.

ConsumerReview has created some 17 different sites from AudioReview.com
to SailingReview.com where enthusiasts of different activities can get
news and information and review products. Product reviews found on the
company's sites are more valuable than those found on sites such as
Deja.com because they are written by enthusiasts, Mancini said.

These amateur experts provide detailed reviews--without the expense of
hiring an editorial staff. ConsumerReview has marketed its
enthusiast-written reviews to e-commerce stores and portals. The opinions
offer portals a quick way to offer shopping advice without having to
develop the content on their own.

Last year, AltaVista added ConsumerReview's content to its shopping area.

Yahoo currently offers product reviews written by Yahoo users for many products in its shopping area. Opinions from ConsumerReview will supplement, not replace, that content.